Science is generally understood as a method of producing reliable knowledge by testing falsifiable claims against objective evidence. Psychological phenomena, however, are traditionally considered “subjective” and hidden from view. Both science and psychology are complex and multifaceted constructs. The globally accepted definition of science is “the intellectual and practical activity that includes the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiments.” Science is thought to consist of a “scientific” mindset that involves assumptions about randomness, complexity, and how an observer can know things about the way the world works. Many believe that psychology does not meet the five basic requirements for a field to be considered scientifically rigorous: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Clearly defined terminology for regular use and understanding by psychologists and kids Quantifiable Highly controlled experimental conditions Reproducibility Predictability and testability. Psychologists have little control over a large number of variables, which influence the behavior they measure. They can control the participants' surroundings within the laboratory as the experimenter has set them. There are several factors unique to humans that cannot necessarily be controlled by the psychologist, such as the participant receiving bad news before this practice or the luncheon not agreeing with them. One question considered to be at the heart of psychology that is denied the label of science is: How can psychologists reproduce reliable and strong conclusions about human behavior given this problem? The answer is that they use many individuals in each experiment, with the hope that individual errors will cancel each other out. medium' in the method; this may then lead to generalization of the findings prior to the use of sample statistical inference tools to support the findings. The end product desired by scientists is a cumulative body of knowledge; ideally, the body of knowledge will have a consensually agreed upon center such as the periodic table, which in psychology is not given at all due to the difference within research and measurements consistently differing from previous ones. Science is based on systematic methods of collecting data and critically analyzing ideas that have to do with science. These include: Systematic observation Measurements Reward Data collection Hypothesis testing Theory building Control experimentation (when possible). The given definition of psychology that many people use is "the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those that influence behavior in a given context." The dismissive attitude that scientists have towards psychologists is believed to be pure intellectual frustration. Academic psychology values the principle of a science and aspires to be a science, yet not a fundamental science that specifically follows the exact methodology of “what it takes to be a science,” but the science that evolves together with the human sample and focuses on changes within the living body, leading it to become a social science. The definition chosen to describe psychology, in fact, always contains the word “science” or a variant of the word, which gives it its place within the broader field of “science”. Additionally, academic psychologists have adopted the scientific mindset through training along the.
tags